Were you a bit surprised to find a ballot in your mailbox this past week? Many people I've spoken with describe their reaction: holding their ballot in their hand, staring at it, and thinking hard - and not being able to figure out what they were supposed to be voting on.

The February 9, 2010 special election is made up of almost entirely school levies - you can find a full list of measures on the ballot here. Seattle voters will have only two propositions on their ballot: a capital levy and an operations levy. Click on each linked levy to go directly to the King County Elections webpage describing the levy, as well as for and against statements for each.

Happy voting!

Ah, I remember the old days: my first election season at CityClub, when the acronym GOTV meant nothing to me. Now, it's a battle cry. GET OUT THE VOTE!

To do that, you need information. Thankfully, the King County Elections website has a ton of it: Did you know Initiative 1033 is hard to find on your ballot? Do you need to check your registration status? Want to track your ballot? Need to review the voter's pamphlet? Where on earth is your nearest ballot drop box? All this and so much more! Who's excited?


While we're speaking of ballot boxes - keep in mind that with our new all-mail voting, ballot boxes are a hot place to be. On primary election day, the drop box at the Seattle Public Library Ballard Branch was completely full at 8:00 a.m., and MyBallard.com reports folks were walking away with their ballots in hand. Plan ahead; keep a stamp handy just in case!

If you're still not sure which candidate is right for you, and are having trouble really getting to know your candidates and initiatives, let us help you: join us (and Seattle Works!) tonight for Speed Candidiating and Seattle Trivia! A short blurb in Publicola's Morning Fizz lists our event with another election-related program happening this evening, both under the description "one for campaign junkies, one for the campaign-weary." While it isn't explicit which one is which, I like think we're a little of both: for the junkie, we offer one more chance to speak directly to candidates and representatives; for the weary, we offer wine, appetizers, and fun, mostly politics-free trivia (with prizes)!

Ballots are due November 3 - if you're anything like me, your ballot is laying open on your kitchen table, half filled out. Finish it! Mail it! If you need help, we'll see you tonight - and we'll bring you a cheat sheet.

Cheers,
Sara @ CityClub

CityClub's programs always include an audience question&answer period, and it's often the case that there are more audience questions than we have time to ask them. Our mayor debate was no exception. There were many questions about the tunnel, which was no surprise of course. Here's a sampling of some of the other questions that unfortunately didn't get asked during the program.

• Do you have any concrete ideas for increasing diversity and providing affordable housing in newly dense neighborhoods (Ballard, Green Lake, etc)?
• What is your view on the city's efforts to preserve industrial jobs by limiting office and retail development in SoDo/Interbay?
• What are your plans for improving the safety and community value of the North Aurora corridor?
• What would you do differently than Nickels regarding neighborhood planning? What roles should the neighborhoods play? Would we still have urban villages?
• Are you aware of the city's Race&Social Justice Initiative? If so, what do you see in the future for the program?
• What is your vision for the role of the Office of Civil Rights? Are you committed to maintaining the programs and efforts of this department and seeral departmental committees it has developed? (e.g. departmental "change" teams)
• What are the concerns of Nickelsville? How will you as mayor work to address those concerns?
• Given the shortfall of city revenues and the proposed budget cuts for The Seattle Public Library in 2010, how important is it to:
• • maintain hours at current levels
  • improve funding levels for collections which includes public computers
  • and, to restore the capital budget for building maintenance?
• To McGinn: Given your opposition to the waterfront tunnel, what does transportation look like here in 20 years? Specifically, what new/renovated/deleted infrastructure will/will not be in place?

And a few of my favorites, simple and to the point:

• BIKING IN SEATTLE ... WILL IT IMPROVE (All-caps as submitted by asker, no question mark included.)
• What would you do to improve the economy?

Many of these issues will also be addressed by candidates tonight at our City Council debate. Click here to sign up now!

Here's a handy list of press from last night's debate, if you didn't attend but would like to check out what happened:

• The Seattle Channel - Click here for a list of broadcast times. Online video available soon!
• Publicola - Liveblogging the CityClub Mayoral Debate
• The Seattle Times - Mayoral debate skips tunnel issue, envisions city after Nickels
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Mallahan, McGinn challenge caricatures; spar over viaduct
• News Talk 97.3 KIRO FM - Seattle Mayoral candidates debate (audio)

Don't forget another important race - Seattle City Council! CityClub's (FREE) debate will take place on Tuesday, October 13 at the Seattle Public Library. Click here to register!

Video will be online early next week for streaming, but for now, here's a short collection of links to some press that's currently out there about the debate:

Seattle mayoral debate highlights at SeattlePI.com
Seattle mayoral debate focuses on Nickels and Mallahan at Seattle PostGlobe
CityClub mayor's debate: Protest outside, candidates at ease inside at The Seattle Times
The Quotable Mayor's Race at The Stranger, on The Slog
Liveblogging CityClub Mayoral Debate at Publicola